


You Shine Like The Stars

by peppermintzz



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Reminiscing, Roommates, Stargazing, Touching, Unrequited Love, but it's not, nomin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 23:02:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21144674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peppermintzz/pseuds/peppermintzz
Summary: “Isn’t this the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” Jaemin dreamily gazes out over the water, at the ripples in the ocean and the reflection of the moon in the waves.You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Jeno wants to say. The words are stuck in his throat. He can’t bring himself to say them. He’s not brave enough to tell his best friend how he truly feels. So he doesn’t.





	You Shine Like The Stars

“Isn’t this the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” Jaemin dreamily gazes out over the water, at the ripples in the ocean and the reflection of the moon in the waves.

You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Jeno wants to say. The words are stuck in his throat. He can’t bring himself to say them. Doing so would alter their friendship in so many ways. So he doesn’t.

So what he says instead is, “Yeah it is.”

Jaemin tears his gaze away from the stars. “I wish we did this more often, Jen. Like we used to. Just you and me, sitting and talking and enjoying the view.”

Jeno considers this for a moment. It’s not every day that they do this, sneaking up to the roof of the dorm building to sit in the cool night air, dangling their legs over the edge and talking about their hopes and dreams. They used to do this when they were younger, only it was on the roof of Jaemin’s house, and the view overlooked their neighbor’s messy backyard instead of the ocean. They’d been so close as children, and even though the two of them remained best friends, something about it had changed. Jaemin, always sociable and outgoing, had found new hobbies, new circles of friends, new people to talk to. And Jeno, well, Jeno had Jaemin and he never saw any need to change that.

“I’ve missed this too,” Jeno finally says. “Much better view here than we had ten years ago, huh?”

Jaemin hums in agreement, scooting closer to Jeno and leaning his head against his shoulder.

Jeno can feel his heart rate increase as Jaemin’s body warmth seeps into him. He wraps an arm around his best friend’s shoulder.

They stay like that for a few minutes before Jaemin lifts his head and Jeno takes that as a signal to remove his arm. Jaemin moves down the ledge a couple inches, so that they’re no longer touching. The distance between them is so small, but for Jeno it feels like miles. A cold pang hits his heart and a chill spreads through his body.

It’s always like this with them, Jeno thinks bitterly. Jaemin will express physical affection with him, but always brief and fleeting, with no more than a few minutes of contact at a time before abruptly pulling away. At first Jeno thought he was just like that, not wanting to touch people for too long. But then he’d see Jaemin snuggle up to Mark for hours at a time while their friend group had movie marathons. He’d rest his head on Renjun’s shoulder on long car rides. He’d wrap an arm around Donghyuck’s shoulder while walking through a mall. He didn’t pull away from them.

Most of the time, Jeno doesn’t mind, he really doesn’t. He cherishes these short moments of touch. Sometimes it bothers him though. He doesn’t know why Jaemin always pulls away from him.

It had started in high school. Jaemin had been so clingy all throughout elementary and middle school, hanging on to Jeno’s arm nearly everywhere they went and even sleeping in the same bed during sleepovers. One day in their sophomore year of high school, Jeno realized it wasn’t the same between them anymore. Jaemin began keeping physical contact at a strict minimum, but not with everyone. Only with Jeno.

Jeno had been in love with his best friend since the fourth grade, since before he really even knew what love was, he supposes. The raven-haired boy with the most brilliant smile in the world had walked up to him before class and asked if he wanted to be best friends, and Jeno hadn’t found it in him to say no.

When Jaemin stopped being so touchy and clingy, Jeno thought it was because he’d somehow discovered Jeno’s feelings and wanted to avoid him. But Jeno soon concluded that Jaemin had no idea. How could he? Jeno hadn’t told anyone and Jaemin was often dense when it came to these things. 

In freshman year, a girl who had been flirting with him for months had asked him out on a date, and he’d agreed to it even though he wasn’t the slightest bit interested, because he thought she’d just wanted to be friends. 

So yeah, Jeno doesn’t know what it is that makes Jaemin cling to everyone but him. There’s no reason he can think of. After all, they’re best friends.

Jeno sighs. He’s tired, he realizes as he glances down at his silver wristwatch, a graduation present from Jaemin. It’s nearing midnight, and while it’s beautiful to look at the stars and the ocean at this hour, he needs his sleep. He hops down from the ledge.

“Where are you going?” Jaemin whines, getting off the ledge too and following him to the stairwell door.

“I need sleep Nana,” Jeno says tiredly, running a hand through his messy hair and suppressing a yawn.

“Please don’t go yet,” Jaemin says softly, reaching for Jeno’s hand. “I want you to stay here with me. Just a few more minutes.”

Jeno doesn’t even need to think before he answers. “Okay.”

And just like that, Jeno’s back on the ledge, with Jaemin’s hand resting on his thigh. He doesn’t know what it is about Jaemin that somehow takes away his ability to say no to anything and everything he asks of him.

They talk more as they sit there together. It’s about nothing important at all. Classes, social lives, sports. It’s meaningless chit chat to Jeno. The only thing he really wants to talk about with Jaemin is a subject he’s too terrified to broach.

An hour later, they’ve moved off the ledge and sit together with their backs against the edge. Jaemin is pressed up close against Jeno, and Jeno realizes with a start that it’s been half an hour and Jaemin has made no move to pull away from him as they continue talking. 

Jaemin’s voice drops deeper as he gets more tired, his words slowing down and head drooping onto Jeno’s shoulder.

“Have you ever loved someone, Jen?” Jaemin asks all of a sudden, his words soft and whispered against Jeno’s shoulder. 

Jeno glances down at him to see that his eyes are closed. Jeno leans his head back against the cold concrete wall and closes his eyes too before whispering, almost too softly to be heard, “Yes I have, Nana.”

“Who?” Jaemin whispers.

Jeno’s heart is pounding. He feels his cheeks becoming flushed and is glad Jaemin’s eyes are closed so he won’t see how furiously he’s blushing. This is the moment he’s thought about so many times over the years. Finally confessing to Jaemin that he loves him. He’s almost worked up the courage before, on nights like these when it was just them and the open night sky. But every time, doubt prevails and he keeps quiet. This night is no different.

“It’s not important,” he finally says. Saying the words crushes him. He knows it’s a lie. It is so so important to him. Jaemin is so important to him. He has been for the last ten years of Jeno’s life.

“That’s not true,” Jaemin replies, eyes still closed. “Who you love is always important.” Jaemin pauses, like he’s trying to think of what to say next. In an even softer voice, he says, “That’s why you’re so important to me Jeno.”

“Because I love you. So much.”

Jeno doesn’t know what to say to that. There’s only one thing he can say. And so he says it.

“I love you too Nana.”

Jaemin hums. After a while he says, “I didn’t think you loved me back you know.” Jeno hears a note of sadness in his voice. “That’s why I stopped touching you so much. I didn’t want to love you even more if you didn’t love me too.”

He pulls his best friend tighter into his arms as Jaemin’s breaths even out and he falls asleep with his head on Jeno’s shoulder.

“I’ve always loved you Nana,” Jeno whispers into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed that, this was my first time writing Nomin and I wasn't really sure where I wanted to go with it at first. I kind of winged it as I wrote haha and it's very lazily edited. Please leave comments telling me what you think :)


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